Juggling act

When Shar Sylvester earns a master's in business administration this week, North Dakota State University should also award her a minor in juggling.

The 36-year-old mother of three squeezed her class work in between working full time as an accountant and serving in Iraq with the National Guard.

Sylvester began taking one class a semester in January 2000, on her way toward a 30-credit degree.

That pace would have allowed her to finish in five years, but in 2003, Sylvester, a captain with the 142nd Combat Engineer Battalion, was deployed to Iraq for 1½ years.

At the time, associate professor Rodney Traub worried that serving in Iraq might put a crimp in Sylvester's plan to complete her MBA.

Sylvester worked with Traub to take an elective course by independent study while she served in Iraq.

"I was pretty impressed by her effort in doing that," said Traub, who teaches operations management.

Karen Froelich, associate professor of management, said Sylvester does a good job of relating classroom discussions to her real-world experiences.

"Her examples help people see some of the ideas in a little different twist," Froelich said.

Two of Sylvester's three children were born while she was working for her degree.

Each addition to the family made going to school in the evening even more challenging, but once Sylvester had completed four or five classes she felt she'd invested too much to quit.

"I am very driven," said Sylvester, who has a 3.9 grade point average. "Once I set my mind on something, I won't give up until it's completed."

Sylvester's husband, Steve, and their three boys are relieved that she's graduating.

"I miss her when she's at school," said her middle son, Briar, 5.

But Sylvester won't be able to enjoy her newfound free time for very long.

She'll have to manage the household herself because Steve, a military police officer, is leaving soon to serve in Iraq training civilian police. He'll be there 14 to 15 months.

"I'll probably be just as busy, at least until he gets back," Sylvester said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Amy Dalrymple at (701) 241-5590

If you go

What: North Dakota State University graduation.

Where: Fargodome.

When: 5 p.m. Friday.

Speaking: Sarah Klein, who will receive a bachelor's degree in zoology, is the commencement student speaker. A Carrington, N.D., native, she carries a 4.0 grade point average and was a four-time All-American on the NDSU women's track and field team

Associated Press